


In another world, I would be yours.

by Yowzahhowzah



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s02e01 A Scandal in Belgravia, Episode: s04e03 The Final Problem, F/M, I Don't Even Know, I'm Sorry, Parallel Universes, Weird 3rd person perspective, well theres both tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 12:46:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10922091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yowzahhowzah/pseuds/Yowzahhowzah
Summary: When a choice is made, another universe is born. A world where the inverse of the choice chosen plays out, as the universe divides like cells - vibrating with barely contained life in its thin fragile membrane, expanding and ultimately, parting from the old cell to form a new one.This is the story about the past, present and the future. This is the story about love and life, of how the two are one and how they cannot exist without each other.This is the story of the consulting detective and the one and only Woman in his life.





	In another world, I would be yours.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this on a whim within 1.5 hours, it's not been betaed so any grammatical or spelling mistakes are mine, all mine, so I'll apologise ahead of time for them.
> 
> Title inspired by Katy Perry's "The One That Got Away". (I know it was released 7 years ago. Yes. Sue me.)

When a choice is made, another universe is born. A world where the inverse of the choice chosen plays out, as the universe divides like cells - vibrating with barely contained life in its thin fragile membrane, expanding and ultimately, parting from the old cell to form a new one. 

This is the story about the past, present and the future. This is the story about love and life, of how the two are one and how they cannot exist without each other.

_This is the story of the consulting detective and the one and only Woman in his life._

 

-

 

  _I.Belgravia_

 

In a world not too far from our reality, yet vastly different in every sort of way - On that fateful night, Sherlock Holmes did not crack her phone and unravel all her secrets and plans -

_No._

In this world, Sherlock Holmes had deduced her passcode, but he kept it to himself. He let her flaunt and toy with his brother, which was a sort of indirect retribution for what he did to him in the palace, because at the end of the day, she wasn't Moriarty - she wasn't those sorts of people who wanted to watch the world burn for the sake of it, instead, she's more like him (more than he'd cared to admit) - selfish. Selfish in a way that meant she would never do anything to harm anyone, unless it was to protect herself and the world she constructed around herself - And, frankly, is that such a crime? Is asking for security, for comfort, for normality (per one's own definition of course), enough to warrant a death penalty? 

No - because, in this world, Irene Adler won despite it all. Though she knew that it was because her opponent, who intentionally stepped to the side let her take what she wanted - at the end of the day, she was able to keep her job and status in London as the infamous Dominatrix who fucked the secrets out of powerful men.

And of course - Irene thanked Sherlock that night. Because after discussing with Mycroft about her protection, she snuck into his bedroom through the window and shared a night that neither of them would dare to forget.

_However, we are not in this world._

Instead, we are in a world where Sherlock Holmes entered her passcode with the same intensity and conviction as if he was firing a bullet into her heart with every single letter. 

Instead, we are in a world where the Woman's phone was unlocked and her stack of bargaining chips toppled over and was spread all over the gambling table with the sound of harsh plastic hitting the felted table. Instead, we are in a world where a rogue tear had slipped through the cracks in her icy facade and rolled down her cheeks, where Sherlock Holmes rejected her and left her to die, before redeeming himself in a land far away from home. 

This is the world we live in, where the almost-lovers never became what they could have become.

 

-

 

  _II.Karachi_

 

In another time, perhaps another life - Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler were in bed in a seedy hotel in the Pakistanis desert, drenched in sweat on crumpled sheets, and panting due to the heat and other things - like the thing where she sucked on his neck like a starved woman, or the other thing where he licked her until she was looking down at him with a dark pupils that eclipsed her iris as her thighs tightened around his head, or the other _other_ thing where she rode him until the only sounds in the room was the vulgar slapping sound of flesh on flesh, moans and whimpers, and the occasional whisper of each other's name as sensation and sentiment hit both participants like tidal waves.

Unfortunately, that world only exists in the vast continuum of space, where other universes exist but cannot be seen by the mortal eye. 

In this world, nothing happened in Karachi. 

After the rescue mission was over and done, an American passport with her face but a stranger’s name was handed to Irene Adler with a small wad of money to last her trip to her new permanent home. Irene Adler - who was wearing a niqab so only her tired blue eyes were seen (partly because it was easier to fit in this way and partly because it's hard to recognise someone by only their eyes), was led onto a ship departing for China, where she would take the first flight from Hong Kong to New York. 

There were no instructions from the man who saved her life, no words, no _nothing_. Just his steely gaze as he stared at her while she looked back from the deck. 

His eyes were narrowed in a way that seemed like he was trying to convey something - stay safe? A goodbye?... Sentiment? The thought of what brought her to this situation in the first place tasted vile.

... Or maybe he was squinting against the relentless South Asian sun, that was as dry and harsh as the man staring back at her. 

No matter.

There was no time to ponder on that thought any longer as the ship blew its horn and started to sail away from the port. 

And as the smoke from the old boat engulfed her in a grey haze, she turned around and gazed out into the never-ending sea instead.

This, is our unfortunate reality, where our star-crossed lovers were never lovers which, in retrospect, may be more tragic than being star-crossed in the first place.

 

-

 

_III.Montenegro_

 

In another dimension, Nero Wolfe existed.

As the product of a night in the Mediterranean city, where the great detective was cuffed to the bed until it was _his_ turn to use the whip, where after 5 hours of their activity (with the score of 2 for Sherlock and a _10_ for Irene), they still shared the shower as the cold water did nothing to put out the fiery passion between the two, where the two usually early-wakers woke up at 10 minutes past 11, as the approaching mid-day sun shone through the window pane onto the couple who were holding each other in their sleep. 

In this alternate universe, Nero Wolfe was born and raised in New York by the ex-dominatrix and her partner who would fly to and fro every month just to see a glimpse of his son. Nero was taught to know what people liked at a glance, how to seduce and use his sex as a weapon by his own mother, but his father taught him to use a microscope, to look into the details and deduce someone's whole life by the way they dressed and the way they acted. 

He would grow up to be one of the best detectives in the world like his father, and do America a great deed by solving the mysteries that plagued each era.

Yet, the duo did not do the world a favour and produce one Nero Wolfe who would find Barstow's killer and help the league of frightened men, because in this world, their encounter in Montenegro ended as tensely and awkwardly as their first meeting did.

Because - after helping him solve a kidnapping case in Podgorica, they parted ways once again, flying to different ends of the world, and when they said their farewells, they were careful not to trespass into any unchartered territory, and the least of all, delve into the _tension_ that had arisen from their initial meeting in her flat 3 years ago.

No - none of them were brave enough - or let's say - _smart_ \- enough to go there. They stood apart from each other like two magnets, repelled yet attracted, as they nodded to each other with a tight smile at the gates of the boarding plane to London, as if they were business partners or acquaintances.

Irene turned and headed for her gate and did not look back at the consulting detective who was battling the urge to call her back - whose mouth was open but silent as he shifted his jaw in - anger? Towards his own cowardice or towards her? - as he turned towards the airplane that was ready to take him back to Baker Street. 

This is the world we live in, where if one of them, just _one of them_ had made another choice, we would be living in a very different world - but, alas, they did not - and our world is worse off because of it. 

 

-

 

_IV.Baker Street_

 

In another world, far far away from ours yet not so different - Irene texted the detective, and as her moan reverberated in the living room of 221B, Sherlock Holmes had gone and picked his phone up - smirking at the text from the Woman, he - without hesitation - started to type a reply and sent it in one swift press of his thumb.

Less than a minute later, another moan was heard as another text was sent from the Woman. This time, as he read the contents of her reply, his thumb hovered for awhile before typing into his keyboard with as much vigour as he did typing the passcode into her phone the night their lives were changed forever. Another text from her arrived before he again hesitated before he pressed the blue button on his phone.

"You know where to find me. -SH"

He was about to put down his phone again to return to his work, but the device emitted another moan.

"Is that an invitation, Mr Holmes?"

With a swiftness that shocked the man himself, he had already typed out a reply.

"Yes. - SH"

He thought about what to say next for a quarter of a second more before adding to said reply.

"Do you accept? - SH"

"Hmm. Let me think about it..."

He was about to put his phone down and return to his laptop once again before it buzzed again in his hand.

He flipped his phone so that the screen faced him again, and flashing on a banner on his phone's lock screen, a simple world was displayed - 

"Yes."

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"This has been long overdue, Mr Holmes."

His fingers flew to his screen.

"Has it? - SH"

"I believe it has."

" _Let's have dinner Mr Holmes_."

This time there was no hesitation in his heart as his fingers worked on the keyboards once again -

"Yes. _Let's_. - SH"

 

 

  

But... _nothing._

This is _our_ world. There are no "but"s nor are there any "However"s.

This is our dimension, our reality, our universe. They have made a choice, and through that choice, we are here in this point in time.

There is no saying where this may lead, which path they will take in the many roads ahead of them.

Indeed, there are no right or wrong turns in this long road called life, but there is a thing called fate, which will lead you to what you need and where you need to be, to the future that you will have to craft for yourself, in the vast universe where bubbles of alternate realities are created by our choices and the lives we live, _have_ lived and _will_ live in the course of our short existence as a tiny speck in this large and beautifully unexpected world.

**Author's Note:**

> That was my first Adlock fic! So, hopefully it wasn't too bad and too out of character, and if you liked it, kudos and comments are always appreciated!


End file.
